Wicked Through and Through
by its-a-little-perky
Summary: On a whim, Elphaba Thropp thinks it's a good idea to kidnap Glinda the Good. She has to find out it is not. Booksical. Gelphie.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N So, this story takes place in an AU where Glinda and Elphaba did not make friends before Elphaba went to the Emerald City and Glinda believes like the rest of Oz that Elphaba is wicked. This story also defies any canon timeline logic, so don't even try to make sense of it.**

**Chapter 1:**

'If it'll make you happy, of course I'll marry you.'

'It will make you happy too, right?'

'You know me. I'm always happy.'

_But I'm not!_ This was the first thought creeping in Glinda's mind the moment her newly announced fiancé turned away and left her alone in the hustle and bustle of their engagement party. Very politely, very apologetically but just as much matter-of-factly, he had excused himself and vanished.

Not more than four weeks had passed since the -horrendifying, if the newspapers were concerned; unfortunate, according to the wizard and Madame Morrible; nightmarish, if she was asked- events of Elphaba Thropp's terrorising actions against the wizard and all of Oz. Everyone spoke about it and Glinda had lost track of what was proven facts and what seemed to be nothing but rumours- and there had been many. Some people said there had been an assassination attempt on the wizard. Glinda shivered at the thought. True, or not, she could not believe she had been sharing a room with the evil green witch at fault for all this. Of course, Glinda had known she was a detestable being from the very beginning, but she still had not expected her to be outright evil. In hindsight, she coursed herself for not seeing it coming.

It did not help that Fiyero was captain of the guard that was trying to find her- he barely had time for Glinda now.

Through the betrayal- and hurt-induced fog in her mind, somewhere deep in the forthrightness of her good, sympathetic side, she acknowledged what an inconvenient situation Oz was facing but it didn't make it any easier. She had devoted her life to Fiyero, always available, but it seemed like Fiyero, for some reason, was interested in nothing but finding Elphaba Thropp and Glinda couldn't help but feel somewhat betrayed. Of course, they had to find the witch responsible for all the sheer terror and chaos in the country, and since this was something no citizen of Oz would soon forget, it was obvious Elphaba Thropp had to be found soon, before all of Oz's trust in Glinda the Good, and worse, the wizard, started to waver.

It was just ironic that up until now she had still slept in their shared room at Shiz. Even with Elphaba gone, the thought of sleeping in a room that still had most of the Wicked Witch of the West's belongings was unsettling. So Glinda had collected her personal belongings in a cardboard box- reluctantly, as she was almost afraid touching any of her things would burn her skin- and got rid of them. Not that there was much to get rid of apart from her hideodious clothes and a few books. She had kept the green bottle hidden under her pillow, though. Glowingly fluorescent and mysterious. Why she couldn't just discard it was almost ridiculous. But for some reason, she felt like keeping it might be of use to her later.

During the few weeks following Elphaba's disappearance, she had had enough, too much actually, time to assess her situation. In hindsight, everything had been obvious but she had been too prone to ignore the signs. When the first days of shock following Elphaba's terrorising acts had worn off, the underlying, unspoken truth that Fiyero had gone through irreversible changes since she had disappeared was suppressed by flagging it as weariness. However, with every passing day it was harder to keep up the façade, to smile and please and submit to whatever nuisance the Ozians could come up with, now that even Fiyero seemed to abandon her. He seemed to think everything people were saying about Elphaba was an unfair amount of blatant lies. Glinda had tried to talk to him about it, but he had just politely dismissed her. Glinda couldn't lie to herself, the way things had unfolded for Fiyero and herself made her nothing but discontent and impatient with every faked moment of her life.

After Fiyero had left, she was sulking at the rest of the engagement party all evening, feeling sorry for herself. It could have been perfect, the happy ending Glinda Upland- no, Glinda the Good now- deserved, but it felt empty and meaningless, because Fiyero seemed to care more about finding that evil, green excuse of a person than spending time with his fiancée. And for that, Glinda hated Elphaba with every single fiber in her body. It very much felt like she got punished instead of the Wicked Witch.

Glinda sighed and sat down at a table, joining her friends to half-heartedly chat and laugh with them, all the while lost in thought.

The sudden noise of collective gasps made her look up. There was a slight commotion a distance away. She spotted a small group of people stepping back, making room for a group of guards, marching towards the wizard's castle entrance. Glinda's heart stopped when she saw who they were dragging between them. In the hands of these guards was no one else than the Wicked Witch of the West.

She stood abruptly, the chair she had been sat on falling over.

The only contentment she could find in the situation was the evidence that Elphaba Thropp was just as much surprised to see her as Galinda was to see Elphaba. She didn't trust her own legs, jelly knees, sponge joints, so she stayed rooted to the spot, half leaning against the table for support. Elphaba was led through what would have been a crowd if not everyone had tried to get as much distance between themselves and the witch as possible- handcuffed and escorted by no less than four guards in uniforms. She sneered at the festive decoration, just before making eye contact with Glinda.

"What a reception, I have to say I'm flattered! Have been dying to see me, Galinda?"

Her voice was the same as Glinda remembered from their quarrels at Shiz. And though it had been only a few weeks, she looked even thinner now, and -if it was possible for her green skin- paler. Her hair messier. The look, the maliciously blinking darkness of her eyes was the same though, and just as revolting as in Glinda's memories.

"In such company, yes," Glinda nodded toward the security guards, and was relieved that her voice came out steadier than how she was feeling. Her remark had no visible effect on Elphaba apart from the twitch of an eyebrow.

She could tell Elphaba was not all too concerned about the captivity she found herself in right now by the way her lips curled into a taut, self-confident smile. "Don't worry, soon I'll be free and Oz can relish in their fair share of nightmares and rumours again."

Glinda couldn't think of anything to say. Eventually she was saved by the guards nudging her from behind. "Come on, witch, move."

She cast one last wrathful glance at Glinda and walked on. Glinda followed her steps numbly, and realized belatedly that Fiyero was standing right beside her.

"You are still here,"he said. It was a statement, a bit apologetic as if it was his fault that she hadn't left the engagement party yet. "I thought you had left when I did. I wanted to spare you this encounter, Glinda."

"She said… Why is she here?" Glinda mumbled, fixating on the gates behind which Elphaba had disappeared, as if trying to convince herself that it was only a hallucination.

"We finally managed to find and capture her." Glinda would have stated how vague and uninformative this reply was if she had not been in a weird state of shock still.

"Why don't you go home, and I promise I'll join you in a few hours."

Even when Fiyero had long followed the other guards, Glinda stayed rooted to the spot.

Somehow, and it was disturbing, meeting Elphaba had shaken her more than she would have anticipated. The last time she saw her, they had been nothing but room-mates- with a strong mutual dislike of course, but learning to tolerate each other's presence. Glinda had happened to forget how menacing she could be, how cruelly spot-on about the impact of her words, how her eyes and voice could deliver so much... wickedness. As she let loathing engulf her in a hope that she could suck every ounce of willpower out of it, a faint realization dawned on her. There was no way she would go home and wait for Fiyero to explain what happened, she just couldn't do it.

Most of the party attendants were still there, but they were not celebrating anymore. Everyone was murmuring and whispering, looking scared. People started leaving in little groups.

Whatever Elphaba was referring to with her last remark, whether it was true or just an empty threat, it left a sick feeling in her stomach. Not feeling too well, she sat back down.

Minutes or hours went by, she couldn't tell through the mind-numbing turbulent thoughts raging in her head.

That was when part of the gate leading to the wizard's castle dissolved with a deafening bang, followed by a mild series of explosions from around the premise.

Glinda was thrown out of her chair, less by the impact and more out of an instinctive reaction to cower. Within a few seconds she was surrounded by smoke, dense and opaque. There were a few shouts, another sound of explosion but Glinda didn't pay attention. Choking at the throat-scratching smoke and her own tears, squinting her stinging eyes, only one horrible thought could reach through the incredulity binding her mind. It's Elphaba. She's trying to destroy the Emerald City.

She scrambled to her feet and stumbled in the opposite direction of where she guessed the castle was. Blinded by all the smoke, she almost fell over someone who was crawling on all fours, then evading the figure she ran into another one, the momentum repulsing her backwards.

She recognized the green witch just a fraction before the witch saw her and caught her off-guard by lurching at her. In the panic of trying to evade the smoke and explosions she had completely forgotten about Elphaba but her sudden manifestation before her made the pieces of puzzle clash in her head, forming a very likely and worrisome image. It was just too obvious, too clear right now.

"You! Get off-!" Her grumble got lost in a croak, and instead of talking she tried to yank her arm free. Glinda, adrenaline exploding in her stomach, clung onto her, desperate to make her stay till a guard would come to her help. Elphaba, with an incomprehensible growl, grabbed her hair and pulled her away from her. Glinda only now realised Elphaba was holding onto her broom, ready to fly off.

"No…!" Galinda shrieked and as soon as Elphaba turned to leave she lashed out again, knocking her down from behind. In the debris she lost her footing but immediately pushed herself off the floor, grabbing onto the broomstick. Before Glinda could even blink, the witch whirled around and the feral sneer that appeared on her face coiled her stomach into a small knot.

"Hell, why not…?" she growled, and pulled Galinda closer to her by the back of her neck, and with her left arm secured around her shoulders, she gnarled into her ear from behind her back. "Since you insist…" with that, the broom took off- not just with Elphaba, but – to Glinda's shock- with both of them.

With wide open eyes, Glinda's glance fell on the ground getting smaller and smaller by the second. Instinctively, she tried to free herself from Elphaba's grasp, but in the attempt she lost her balance and almost slipped off the side of the broom- if it wasn't for Elphaba's arm around her waist pulling her up.

"You better keep still" Her voice carried such power and coolness that Glinda involuntarily shivered. Elphaba tossed Glinda in front of her on the broom and just when she regained her balance, she clung to the broom in panic.

Between the realization that she was in deep trouble and the almost blinding fear caused by the incredible height they were at by now, all Glinda could focus on was her fingers holding on to the thin broom as tight as she could.

Once she had steadied her breath and regained control of her racing thoughts- which took a while- Glinda finally found the courage to speak.

Grinding her teeth, she glared at Elphaba over her shoulder "Let me go."

Elphaba chuckled coldly. "Be more consistent, Glinda. Back on the ground you seemed to be eager to stick to me."

Her irritated yet malicious grin, the clouds, the broom flying at high speed through the darkening sky, even her desperately restrained fear faded into blackness as Glinda felt her consciousness slipping away.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm sorry if Elphaba's 'evilness' seems to be a bit over the top in this chapter (and the next few) I swear, she secretly isn't half as bad as she pretends here :)**

**Chapter 2**

Elphaba groaned as Glinda's body slackened, her hands gliding off the broom. It would be exhausting to hold onto her while flying, especially when she had to keep hidden among the clouds so they were not spotted.

It wasn't a long way to go, but she decided to land and take a break somewhere until Glinda would wake up again.

She took a quick glance at the blonde girl, and gripped the broom tighter. Out of all people trying to stop her from getting away, it had to be Galinda Upland. If Elphaba was as wicked as all of Oz thought she was, she would simply let go of her and toss her off the broom without slowing down. What slowing, she would even speed up…

As soon as Elphaba considered them to be far enough from the Emerald City, she scanned the ground for a place they could hide for a while and eventually descended into a forest, where she got off the broom and – more gently than she was willing to admit- placed Glinda on the ground, leaning her against a tree.

After a while, she was coming around. A flutter of eyelashes. Elphaba braced herself for a full-force tantrum. Good thing they were in the middle of a huge, dark forest.

Glinda opened her eyes slowly and breathed in deeply. Then out. She could feel Elphaba- no, the Wicked Witch- watching her. Having come to her senses, she spun around and faced the green girl. "You evil thing! Where are we?"

"Almost there."

"Where?"

"You'll see soon. Now shut up, and get back on the broom. Stay conscious this time, would you? I could hold on to you for now, but who knows, do you really want to place your trust in the Wicked Witch of the West?"

Glinda ignored her mocking tone. "What do you want from me?"

"Quit the questions." With that, she pulled Glinda on the broom and ascended towards the sky with an alarming speed- mainly to scare the blonde.

Glinda couldn't help looking down again. The woodlands seemed hardly familiar and she had not the faintest idea which part of Oz they were in. With that came the realization that no one else knew where she was. With her heart beating against her ribs she took a deep breath.

"I want to get off."

"Feel free." Elphaba said dryly, gesturing downwards.

"You know what I mean. Fly me back. Or- at least somewhere where I know where I am!"

Elphaba sighed. A whole world of restraint was being collected. Maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to bring her along, Elphaba pondered. "If I were you I wouldn't get on my nerves because I get furious and we both know what happens then."

Glinda narrowed her eyes. If Elphaba's threat frightened her, she didn't show it.

* * *

Soon they reached Kiamo Ko. Not remotely out of courtesy- they were both aware of that- Elphaba held the door for her. When Glinda still hesitated to go inside- the castle looked terrifying after all (_how fitting for a wicked witch, _she thought), Elphaba seized her arm just above the elbow and pushed her inside.

Right before she could close the door behind them, reality finally gave Glinda a mental wake-up kick and she tore her arm out of Elphaba's grip. It was over though, before she could even think of a direction to bolt. The green witch yanked her into the building like she was a rag doll.

A staircase, poorly lit by the light coming in from the small windows, was behind the front door, deserted like nobody had lived here fore years.

The blood was drumming in her ear almost deafeningly. Glinda tried to assess the situation. Elphaba was on the run after attacking the wizard again and fleeing captivity and Glinda had no idea how she fit in with any of this except for being some sort of hostage. That she surely didn't want to be.

Elphaba held her at arm length. Glinda had a hard time keeping her eyes locked with hers, not when she was so uncertain and in fear. She'd never planned to associate this word with her former roommate but the exterior the green girl was showing now was raw and without any attempt to conceal her plain evilness with the awkward 'outsider' demeanour she had shown at Shiz.

"If you behave, you will live. Simple enough?" The patronizing tone returned to Elphaba's voice.

She started going up the stairs, wisely not waiting for a reply. Glinda made her task troublesome by not channelling an ounce of momentum into her movements.

On the landing Elphaba shook her, somewhere near the end of her patience she tried not to reach. "Come on, Galinda, you don't want me to drag you because I swear I will."

Glinda only gave her a wry smile. "It's Glinda now."

"What?"

"Glinda the Good, to be exact."

"Oh, they gave you a title. Congratulations. Now move." Elphaba pretended to be disinterested, but she smiled inwardly. Dragging 'Galinda Upland' through Oz with her might be more trouble than she was worth, but having 'Glinda the Good' as a hostage might actually prove useful.

Once at the end of the stairs, they entered a room.

"What do you want from me? I'm not part of your plan, am I?" Elphaba was acting on impulse, she could tell it. The almost non-existent impatience toward her had to emerge from the lack of control over the situation: she was concentrating on other things to solve, restraining her was on the edge of her focus.

Elphaba stared at her, scrutinizing for a moment, then nodded. "You really weren't. You pretty much are now, though."

Glinda stared at her suspiciously. Elphaba closed and locked the door behind them. "You stay there", she said before disappearing into an adjoining room.

Glinda's eyes were searching for an appropriate weapon, but her mind wasn't on it. The faint dusty, stale smell of the old castle, its general impersonality yet here and there spilled with not so neutral objects that were obviously hers, the fact of being in _her_ bedroom, all got to her head.

Elphaba was back before she knew it. She handed Glinda a glass of water. Glinda tried to hide her gratefulness; all things considered, it was ridiculous: : the fact that she was here at all, it was all Elphaba's fault. The witch had begun to scribble something on a piece of paper.

"I could give you some clothes to change into. They might not fit you perfectly but they will be more comfortable than that." She pointed vaguely towards Glinda's engagement party dress.

Glinda was repulsed by the thought alone. She frowned and crossed her arms.

Elphaba let out a cackle. "You either gotta wear my clothes or this ...inconvenient dress all along."

Now Glinda chose to ignore the 'all along' in the remark and instead went with the outrageous part, and gaped at her. "I'd rather wear this until it rots off of me than your abominable clothing. You can't expect me to run around in these depressifying colours anyway."

The green girl let out a humourless laugh. "Yeah, I saw that answer coming. I know your usual wardrobe is far from what I can offer you." Glinda seethed, glaring at her. The nonchalance with which she was reminded of the fact she had been living together with this vile green being boiled her blood.

"Relax. When we have time, you can indulge in your shopaholic kick and get what you need,"

Glinda just took another sip of water, which she choked on when out of nowhere a dark shape appeared at the window next to her.

"Chistery!" Elphaba exclaimed and rushed over to … the _thing_, which Glinda could now make out as a monkey. Her eyes widened as she saw it had wings. So the rumours were true. Elphaba Thropp had really managed to create flying monkeys. Glinda saw her fold up the note she had scribbled on and hand the letter to the monkey. Then she whispered something into his ear. Chistery gave a nod and then pushed himself off the window, flying off.

Glinda cautiously eyed Elphaba rushing over to a cupboard, obviously looking for something. It was weird to see Elphaba's place so full of...normal things. Glinda's glance fell on a stack of canned food in the cupboard. _Does she really eat all these things like other people? Normal, real people?_She struggled to create the mental image of her spooning a bowl of cereal but failed. Somehow she thought she would feed on power and the glee of manipulating others. It was a ridiculous thought of course- especially since Glinda had lived with her and had seen her do normal things pretty much every day. But that had been Elphaba Thropp. The green bean. The artichoke. Now she was faced with the Wicked Witch of the West. Discovering she had a human side with its physical limits and weaknesses, a seemingly normal life, sharing innocent habits with the rest of the human race, something less shady behind the intimidating and impersonal display of a relentless terrorist appeared to be too huge a bite to swallow.

Glinda's gaze fell on a small knife lying on the table. She only had to take one step to the side and reach out with her arm. _I won't have to hurt her, I can just use it to defend myself,_ she thought and in a feeble attempt, she moved to the right, keeping an eye on Elphaba's back, and was startled out of her skin when suddenly Elphaba spun around and whirled towards her.

"Don't be stupid. You know, I don't have time for little games."

She had to have a third eye on the back of her head to see it coming. A sixth sense. Seventh, even. Glinda refused the possibility that she was so easy to read.

She fought her all the way, numb from fear that Elphaba was about to kill her she delivered a good kick at her ankle while green hands were dragging Glinda roughly to a door and eventually pushed her through it.

A click; the lock was turned.

Glinda panicked; it was dark and small, crowded in there. Involuntarily, as she tried to find her footing, she trashed around, thinking of all the items Elphaba could be keeping there, incriminating things, chopped off body parts- that thought, and a metal clink from somewhere behind made her cease all movements-_weapons_? The last thing she wanted was accidentally tripping on one and stabbing herself. Feeling around the door, beside it she finally found the switch. The light bulb illuminated a very ordinary looking closet, stuffed with cardboard boxes and empty suitcases. Dread was quickly replaced by inflaming humiliation: Elphaba had locked her into a supply closet.

For a minute, all thoughts went racing out of her mind. It was hard to decide which prospect was more frightening: if she would leave her here, locked in a closet, or if she would resume dragging her after her. For now, the latter held more appeal.

Pounding on the door angrily: "Elphaba, let me out!"

No reaction. Not that she'd expected any.

The door opened after a while. If Elphaba had found what she had been looking for, she didn't say it.

Out in the staircase, running down the flight of steps Glinda struggled against her grip in a sudden surge of panic. "I won't go anywhere with you. Forget it."

Elphaba stopped, grasped her shoulder with her free hand, pushing her up against the wall with the weight of her body. Her movements far from being gentle, Glinda hissed sharply.

"Oh, sorry, it hurt?" she cooed in her ear. Glinda could feel the fake pout in her voice. She leaned as far away from her as she could and Elphaba would let. Her mere proximity rinsed her forehead with beads of cold sweat.

"If you don't stop whining, I have to kill you and I'll do it gladly." Elphaba growled.

While Glinda was terrified of the witch, for some reason these words didn't scare her. The threat didn't seem genuine.

"Really? Fine. Then kill me right now because I'm not going." she dared to say. She stumbled a bit, and with the continuation of the momentum took a deliberate step backwards, her high-heel boring into Elphaba's right foot. She let out a half-muffled cry.

"Oh, sorry, it hurt?" high on adrenaline and anger, Glinda mimicked her tone and even her facial expression, and drilled the heel deeper in her flesh. Elphaba grabbed her and pushed her closer against the wall. "I'm glad you're having fun. As long as you still can."

She stared at her, her dark eyes narrowing, impossible to read.

After a few agonising seconds, she pulled back and, somewhat exasperated, released Glinda's arms. "Just shut up. You're coming with me."

Once outside, Elphaba grabbed her broom again, telling Glinda to get on.

She hesitated. Another trip on that thing was the last thing she wanted now. She looked around, desperately trying to find something that could help her. Somewhere to run to. Someone to magically appear to save her.

Elphaba, calmly, but deceptively so, inquired: "Which part of the sentence was not clear enough for you?"

Having run out of other options, she angrily obeyed.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Glinda asked.

A sigh. "You'll see when we get there."

"But I wanna know now."

"Tough luck. Now shut up, will you?"

"Tell me, or..."

"...or?" Elphaba arched one eyebrow mockingly. Realizing she was not exactly in the position of power here, Glinda kept quiet, but only for a short moment.

"Why did you take me with you?"

"Why would I tell you?" Elphaba grew more and more tired of the blonde's questions.

"Because... Ugh. Where did you send that monkey?"

"You ask one more thing and I will throw you off this broom _merrily_."

A few seconds passed.

"When will you let me go?"

"Never, if you keep it up." Elphaba snarled.

Glinda simply laughed in her face defiantly. "I thought I was gonna be thrown off."

"Is that a complaint?"

This time Glinda ignored her- not brave enough to push her luck further.

The sky had gone fully dark by the time Elphaba decided to take a break. She was getting tired and so must have Glinda. They had been in the air for what felt like ages. Due to having been on the run for a few weeks now, she knew a few abandoned places where she could hide and remembered there was an abandoned cabin in a small forest nearby.

Glinda was relieved when they finally touched the ground again.

She stumbled off the broom, limbs numb and aching. It felt wonderful to stretch her legs, and obviously Elphaba thought the same as she took a few tentatively energetic steps, rotated her shoulders. She looked tense, muscles, senses on the edge, that of a predator ready to jump, fight or escape. _Always ready to kill,_ Glinda thought shivering.

They stepped into the cabin. Suddenly, Glinda froze. So far she hadn't imagined how the sleeping arrangement would look like, or if there were any sleeping at all, and now she realized what Elphaba had on her mind.

"I won't be staying in the same room with you, Elphaba. I'm dead serious."

Her voice, commanding, wavering only with anger, brought the annoyance back to Elphaba's face. Elphaba ceased her activity of fishing for something in her bag and looked up at Glinda, eyebrows raised. "I'm offended, Glinda. Out of all people, _you_ should be used to sharing a room with me." When Glinda just gave her a scornful stare, Elphaba added. "Last time I checked, you didn't have a choice, my pretty. You either come or come. Think you can make the decision?"

"I opt for the third. Just let me go!" Glinda insisted without the slightest humour or irony.

"I see the question was beyond that stupid blonde brain capacity of yours."

She turned, shooting her another belittling look, eyes widening when she saw the blonde rubbing her eyes- _wiping tears away_? Elphaba suspected and frowned. She stepped closer to the smaller girl. "Alright. Listen now, and listen well. If you behave well and do as I say, I will not hurt you in any way and you can take my word for that. Good enough deal? I hope so because that's the best I can offer right now."

The cabin was quite small with only a table and -_luckily,_ Glinda thought- two single beds beyond which she could peek in the tiny bathroom through the half-open door. Elphaba threw her bag on the bed closer to the entrance.

Glinda sat down on the other bed, turning away from the green witch who was lost in thought, brows furrowing in concentration now and again.

They sat there in silence. Glinda realised how ironically familiar this very situation was. It was almost like they were room-mates at Shiz again. Except back then, Glinda had not been terrified out of her skin by the green girl. Disgusted, yes, but not terrified.

They sat there in silence for a while. Until Glinda finally gathered the courage to ask the question that had tormented her for hours now.

"Did you kill the wizard?" She pressed her lips together in overwhelming worry.

"No."

"Injured him?"

A sigh, she rubbed the skin under her right eye. "No, Glinda. I didn't even try to."

Glinda was surprised, even suspicious that Elphaba might be lying; But something told her she wouldn't lie to her about this. _Yeah, right, a wicked witch with ethics,_ she laughed at her own naivety. How ridiculous it was. How absurd.

Elphaba continued. "I know what people are saying. But there never was an assassination attempt. Never will be."

Glinda bit her lower lip, unsure of whether to believe the witch. "Then... what about the

explosions today?"

Elphaba sighed. "Set-up. I have allies back in the Emerald City- they organised it so I could get what I had come for and then disappear."

"Allies? Who"

The green girl smiled softly. "That's a secret, my pretty."

"But... who in their right mind would help _you_? And by blowing up part of the wizard's castle, too for that matter?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, pretending to take offence at the blonde's attitude.

"That was a fake attack with the minimum possibility for severe injuries. Those were mostly smoke bombs. They hardly destroyed anything. It was all just to create enough chaos for me to get away. It happened too fast, though, and they took away my-"

"So are you saying you let yourself get caught by the guards on purpose?"

Elphaba widened her eyes in pretend surprise. "Look at you! You're thinking!"

Glinda scowled at her.

"Yes, I let them find and catch me. It was the easiest way to get through to the wizard and get him to set the other monkeys free."

Glinda arched her brows. "You risked being caught to steal some monkeys? Why?"

Elphaba looked at her, a hint of irritation in her eyes. Before she could answer, Glinda opened her mouth again: "Anyway, where do I come into this? Would you care to tell me now, why you insist on dragging me across Oz on that filthy broom?"

Elphaba only shrugged. "You are an anomaly."

When she didn't appear to be willing to elaborate, Glinda urged her on edgily. "More precisely?"

"I… well... Not everything went to plan back there, so I had to make changes to the plan, so to say."

"By kidnapping me."

"Why, isn't that a harsh expression!"

"So what part of your plan went wrong?"

Elphaba looked at her for a moment, as if to contemplate whether to tell her not. Then she said: "They took away the Grimmerie. I need it back. And I can't let the wizard have that book. I thought that _Glinda the Good_ might be an appropriate bartering object, don't you?" her cackle made Glinda's blood turn to ice. _Evil thing, _she thought and turned away with a contemptuous snort.

Only now, as her gaze fell on the dress she was still wearing, did she realize that all of today's events had happened on the day of her engagement celebration.

Life could be incredibly unfair.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: These are getting longer and longer. Oops!**

**Chapter 3**

Glinda woke up dead tired; maybe waking up wasn't the best choice of words since she had hardly slept all night. Being in the same room with the _Wicked Witch of the West _after she had told Glinda about her evil plot to use her as a bartering object wasn't a calming bedtime story. The fact that Elphaba had locked the cabin and ensured Glinda that there was no use in trying to escape didn't stop her from coming up with various stupid escape plans all night, each one more unrealistic than the others. (Elphaba's threat to tie her to the bed if she just as much as tried to leave it was what stopped her from actually trying to look for windows big enough to escape out of.)

With no other option available - though Elphaba had snidely offered her a T-shirt that Glinda had flatly refused - she'd gone to bed in her party dress, having courage to take off only her jacket. By the morning, it had been clear instantly, her clothes would look like hell but it was the least of her concerns then.

For what seemed like half the night, she had been waiting for Elphaba to fall asleep, and even when she presumed she finally did, she didn't dare let herself follow suit, despite knowing that she would have been long dead if the witch was planning to kill her; not that this was anywhere near reassurance. The night was one of the longest she'd ever experienced. Counting her breathing, measuring the length of the intervals between inhalation and exhalation like she used to do it in the times of bad storms raging outside, attempting to judge how far the tempest was by counting the seconds between thunder and lightning: it was the same, the longer the intermission stretched in time, the farther the danger.

Elphaba was up before her, physically at least, and occupied the bathroom while she was lying there. She had struggled into sitting position by the time she was done, just to appear less vulnerable and ridiculous. Without a word, Glinda locked herself in the bathroom after Elphaba exited it. Since she had no personal items with her, not a change of clothes or shower gel, she was resorted to use the once-white towel and nondescript-scented mini soap she found in the cabinet, and put her wrinkled dress back on after a quick shower.

Elphaba had meanwhile looked through the cabin for kitchen supplies and tried to make a somewhat decent breakfast with the little food she had thought of bringing. When Glinda exited the bathroom, Elphaba, somewhat awkwardly, cleared her throat, pointed towards the small kitchen table and said 'I made breakfast.

"I'm not hungry." Glinda lied, not keen on eating something prepared by THE wicked witch herself.

"Eat it. We don't know when we will get the chance to eat something again."

Too tired to argue, Glinda sat down at the table and half-heartedly gulped down a few mouthfuls. Elphaba brought both of them a glass of water and sat down on the other chair.

The weirdness and awkwardness of this all too normal situation -so reminiscent of them a few months ago- did not go unnoticed by either of them. Glinda examined Elphaba for long without the risk of being caught in the act since Elphaba was pretty keen on avoiding eye contact with her. She looked haggard but surrounded by a sharp air of vigilance; It was clear she hadn't slept much either, just as Glinda had anticipated: she wouldn't let her guard down in her presence, not at night, not anytime probably.

It was strange to see Elphaba this way again. Sleeping, eating like other people. She just realized, in her mind she'd ceased to be a human, somehow the recent memories she had of her from their time at Shiz had multiplied with time; like several layers put upon each other, the image darkened and she unconsciously, instinctively created something terribly inhuman, monstrous, out of her, kneading her into a hateful concentrate. Engaging in a harmless activity like eating breakfast with her made Glinda doubt how accurate this mental image was. Thinking back, Elphaba had never seemed remotely threatening at Shiz. Kind of anti-social, but not malicious. Glinda had even seen her express kindness- towards her sister, and their goat teacher. Was it really possible to change into a purely evil person in such a short time? Past and present started to blur in her head and before she could wrap her hear around all that confusion, she was interrupted.

"I saw Madame Morrible at your engagement party." Elphaba said matter-of-factly.

Glinda cast her a quick glance, as if to question '_so?'_

"I know she started working for the wizard, but I assume she continued giving you sorcery lessons?"

Glinda frowned, incredulous as to why Elphaba would be interested in such... trivial things.

"No," she squirmed unpleasantly, and for a minute Elphaba thought she wouldn't elaborate. "Well… she didn't continue teaching me sorcery after you left. She only ever did it for you in the first place."

With mixture of puzzlement and surprise, Elphaba gaped at her. "Are you kidding? You were good at it, too!"

"She never thought I had it in me."

Glinda's shrug was forced, Elphaba could tell.

"That stupid old trout" Elphaba huffed as though she had been affected by it instead of Glinda. Unable to decide how she should react at her remark, whether it was cynical or real, Glinda settled on picking up her cup and taking a few sips of water, keen on not making a comment. If she could, she would have simply erased the previous ten seconds from her memory. She wanted no compliments from Elphaba Thropp. She wanted nothing, nothing at all about her, no personal details whatsoever. Nothing that differed from what Glinda knew she was. Or wanted to believe she was. She wanted to maintain this image, for her sanity maybe. Because if Elphaba wasn't wicked through and through, why else would she do this to Glinda?

"So... Glinda _the Good_?" Elphaba interrupted her train of thought. "How did that happen?"

Glinda put the cup back on the table with a firm slam. "Well, the people needed someone to lift their spirits while _someone"_ \- she narrowed her eyes to underline her implication- "was flying around, terrorising Oz!"

"I bet they did" Elphaba huffed. "Or maybe the wizard was just too lazy to do it himself. That seems more likely, if you ask me." Her voice snapped venomously.

"No matter what his reason was, at least people like me. I don't think the same could be said about you."

Elphaba glared at her, and Glinda leant back, satisfied with the stab. The air between them seemed to drop several degrees. Elphaba downed her water and got up.

* * *

Elphaba had once again not told Glinda where they were flying this time. When they reached their destination, Glinda couldn't believe her eyes. Elphaba had brought her... home. To her parent's house. They were hovering over it from a safe distance still, when Elphaba said "Don't get too excited, we are only stopping by so you can grab whatever clothes you think you need. Because this trip might take longer than I thought. So, where is your room?"

Elphaba carefully drew nearer to the window Glinda reluctantly pointed at. She was hoping that, once inside, she could scream for help and somebody would hear. As if reading her thoughts, Elphaba commented "Be quiet when we're inside. If somebody hears us we have to leave and you will be stuck with that dress for the whole time. It's up to you." Elphaba seriously doubted Glinda's parents would even be here though, considering the fact their precious daughter had gone missing only yesterday. She managed to open the window to Glinda's room with magic- that much she could still do, even without the help of the Grimmerie. Once inside, Elphaba leaned against the door to Glinda's room, as if to discourage her from even thinking about escaping.

"Make it casual, we won't be attending a ball, Glinda." Elphaba reminded her as she started looking through her huge wardrobes.

Elphaba couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as she watched Glinda gathering a few pieces of clothing, her eyes all the while nervously flickering between the open window and the door Elphaba was leaning against. Up until now she hadn't stopped and thought about what she was actually doing- but now the realisation came crashing down on her like a wave of bricks. She had kidnapped Galinda Upland for Oz sake. It's not like she wanted to- it was nothing but annoying and weirdly awkward, because she realised that while Glinda undoubtedly saw her as some profoundly evil monster, Elphaba still saw Glinda as the girl she got to know at Shiz. Nothing but her roommate. Former roommate. There was no way she was ever going to harm her- but Glinda didn't know that. And neither did anyone else. For the first time, Elphaba could somehow understand why people called her wicked. And as unwelcome this feeling was, she also felt a bit triumphant. Like she finally did something to earn the title 'Wicked Witch of the West'. Like she deserved her bad reputation now. Up until now, good intentions had been her motives behind everything she had done- but kidnapping Glinda served only the selfish purpose to get back the Grimmerie.

_It's not that selfish_, she told herself. _Oz is better off without the wizard using it for himself- if he could use it, that is._

After collecting all sorts of casual clothes, most of them consisting of simple shirts or casual dresses, Glinda entered the bathroom adjoining her room and changed into fresh clothes. Then she sat down on the floor, determined to make Elphaba wait for as long as possible. She had accepted that it might be near impossible for her to foil Elphaba's little plan but she would gladly do anything to make it as hard for the green witch as possible.

She had never been more grateful for that little bathroom's lockable door. Just a primitive lock, a cabin hook, actually, but Elphaba would have to break it off the door if she wanted to reach her.

"Glinda, you're done? Come out already."

She didn't want to. She was considering staying here till somebody returned home and would find them here. Then she noticed the row of all her lipsticks on her shelf. She was proud at herself for her next idea: She could leave a message on the mirror. But what would she write? What information could she possibly write down that would lead to her being found? She needed time to think- time she didn't have. Elphaba seemed to get more impatient now because suddenly she renewed her persuasion on the other side of the door, voice terribly strained.

"Glinda, open the door. I know you must be done by now."

Glinda realised there was nothing useful she could write on that mirror except from a message that would let her parents know she was alive and with the Witch. So that was what she did.

Suddenly there were footsteps nearing the door, a rustling. _No! If Elphaba opens the door herself and comes in she will see the message! _Glinda quickly finished her message, hoping it would still be readable. With her heart in her throat, her hand lashed out and unhooked the lock before Elphaba would. She pushed the door open and stepped out, trying to look as unsuspicious as possible. Elphaba looked her over with sharp eyes, her glance bordering on annoyance.

"I'm done, so?" Glinda crossed her arms over her chest.

"Good. Let's go then."

As they left her home behind, the huge villa starting to appear like a tiny spot on the horizon, Glinda thought of her parents, her heart shrinking into a tiny painful ball imagining how worried they had to be that her daughter was in the Wicked Witch's clutches and no one knew anything about their whereabouts. If everything happened according to Elphaba's plan, no one would know it for a while. But at least they would know she was alive now.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from Elphaba in contempt. How could she do this to her?

* * *

_Oz damn it!_ Elphaba cursed inwardly when huge rain-clouds appeared on the horizon. Getting burned from the water was the last thing she needed right now. She let out a sigh of relief when she realised that they were not far from the cabin they had stayed last night, so she abruptly changed direction and flew towards the forest.

"Back here? Again? Why? It's not even evening" Glinda inquired when they entered the cabin. They had made it just in time, too, raindrops starting to fall almost as soon as they made it inside.

Trying to hide her relief, Elphaba replied "Change of plan."

"Why?"

"Doesn't matter." It was better if Glinda didn't find out about her biggest weakness.

Elphaba sat down on the bed, hoping the rain would end soon. She definitely didn't want to be stuck here with Glinda, with nothing to do. It reminded her too much of their time as roommates and it quite frankly made her more uncomfortable with this situation than she was to begin with.

"You know, I don't get what all this effort is for." Glinda began. "If you want the Grimmerie back, bring me back to the Emerald City and demand they swap me for it." wording it like this made her feel sick, but she went on. "What use is there in putting it off? Aren't you getting tired of this?"

Elphaba laughed quietly, eyebrows raised. "Of course I'm tired of this. This is _you_, I have to deal with after all."

Glinda frowned. "Don't complain, like it isn't your fault I'm stuck here with you! And you didn't answer my question. What are you waiting for?"

"I don't _have_ to answer your questions, my sweet." Glinda's frown deepened at the mocking term of endearment. "I will answer this one though: at the moment I'm just waiting for the sake of waiting. I bet not even a lot of people are aware you are missing yet. The longer we wait, the more people will worry about you. This will put pressure on the wizard to do everything in his power to save your precious life and I might actually get the book back. It's worth a try."

"How much longer then?"

Elphaba shrugged.

No matter how much more she pressed the matter, she didn't get more information out of Elphaba. Soon they both sat there in silence, Elphaba preoccupied with a book after a while. Reading- just like she had always done, so why did it come as a surprise to Glinda?

Deep down she knew why. Because she desperately want to believe Elphaba was no longer the same person she had shared a room with not long ago.

Glinda hugged herself tightly, suddenly feeling cold. Sometimes the resentful silence disturbed her more than Elphaba's scornful remarks.

* * *

"It's been more than two days. Everyone should very well be aware that Glinda Upland was abducted by the Wicked Witch of the West by now." Glinda whined, getting more and more tired of being stuck here.

"Maybe." Elphaba replied dismissively.

"So take me back!"

No reply.

"And what are you even going to do if the wizard won't agree to give you the Grimmerie?"

Elphaba laughed bitterly. "Wouldn't that be something? I'd love to see your face when you realize this book is more important to the wonderful wizard of Oz than your precious life."

"He... he wouldn't..."

Suddenly, the calm demeanor dissipated, frustration filtering through Elphaba's words: "What do you know about what the wizard would or wouldn't do? He would probably watch me snap your pretty little neck right there if it meant saving his own sorry ass."

"You wouldn't."

Elphaba chuckled. "What makes you so sure about that? I'm the Wicked Witch of the West."

A long beat of quiet. Glinda looked at her sidelong. The moonlight coming in from the window painted deep, contrastive shadows on her face. Glinda could tell she was lying and she was sick of her empty threats. She was sick of this whole situation, this stupid shabby cabin, their endless conversations going nowhere- she was sick of Elphaba most of all.

So, without second thought, she jumped up, threw open the cabin door and, driven by the desperate desire for freedom, scurried towards the dark shadows the narrow trees provided.

She heard Elphaba behind her after what felt like only split-seconds and she knew there was no use in trying to run. Yet she didn't stop. She had no plan to escape, it hardly even constituted an attempt. And if it came to a fight, she was no match for Elphaba. Bolting like this, she wanted her to see she wouldn't let the witch order her around and that she didn't believe her stupid empty threats; or maybe she just wanted to remind herself of that.

Elphaba caught up with her in an instant. "Stop getting on my nerves already, princess!" The end of the cry drowned in the pools of fury as she grabbed her shoulder.

Using the momentum of her yank, Glinda swirled around and her left arm followed the movement in a large circle, aiming at Elphaba's head. Elphaba doubled over slightly and took a faltering step backward, and Glinda instinctively aimed a strike at the back of her head with her fists clutched together. Her knuckles only grazed her forehead as Elphaba ducked and caught her arms at the same time.

"You know, Glinda, I might change my mind and kill you right here and now." Elphaba was shocked at how easy and naturally these threats started to flow off her lips now. Even though she knew there was nothing behind them. It began to scare her.

"I know you're not going to kill me."

"And why would you assume that?"

"I'm not _that_ stupid, Elphaba. I know you are in a desperate situation. You're on your own in this. That's why you had to kidnap me. You can't threaten me with my own life if you need me to get that stupid book back. Without me, you have nothing."

A muscle she rarely had seen twitched in Elphaba's jaw but her voice was even. "Come on, let's go back."

"No! Take me back home!" Glinda screeched, trying to kick Elphaba in order to free herself of her grip.

Elphaba watched the symptoms of the blonde's sudden fit of anger with curious detachment for a minute, then whirled her around, slamming her against the nearest tree. "Done with the whining yet?" Her left arm was pressing just under Glinda's collarbone, pushing the air out of her lungs. Only their frantic breaths were quarreling now, eyes fighting a brief war- before Glinda's flickered distractedly and then focused on something unseen, unreal. Her whole body froze, eyes wide, glazed, dim with fear, lips quivering and frozen in a silent scream of terror. Elphaba threw a glance over her shoulder to find out what she was staring at- and her heart stopped a beat when she saw they were surrounded by a circle of huge, towering flames. They drew nearer and nearer, unbearable heat replacing the cold night air.

_Did I do that? _

Elphaba was stunned, in her bewilderment almost let Glinda go. It took her a few moments to calm herself, recollect her focus, then she concentrated on making these flames disappear. They vanished as quickly as they had appeared. She turned back to Glinda, who still looked horrified. In her shock, she had ceased to struggle altogether. Elphaba softened her grip and, almost softly, she said: "Now it's better."

With the fingers of her left hand she touched Glinda's chin briefly, trying to calm her, convey that she wouldn't hurt her, not now, not ever, but didn't want to voice it, didn't want to encourage Glinda to stop being afraid of her. It was better if she was. Maybe it really wasn't such a good idea to take her with her. Maybe this had gone too far.

She lowered her arms and released the blonde. As soon as the she had taken a few steps back, and she turned her back on her, Glinda lunged at her, nails, fists pounding on her shoulders with uncontrolled rage, right now the only dam for the tears craving to gush forth. "Don't you dare frighten me like that again!"

Elphaba spun around, grasped her flailing arms, shook her forcefully. "Stop fighting me then!"

But Glinda was beyond comprehending any words. Elphaba could see something had snapped in her, brought out by their argument earlier, enhanced by her sudden burst of magic. She twirled her around to avoid her blindly kicking legs, pulled her closer and pressed the tirelessly flailing arms to her side.

"Let me go," Glinda wailed.

Elphaba wanted to. She wanted to get rid of this guilt rising up inside her.

She very much felt like the fire incident switched off a lamp inside her and in the engulfing darkness her soul was thrashing around in panic. She had lost control in every aspect: over her emotions, over her life and now over her magic too. And now all this guilt made her want to abandon this stupid plan she had come up with as a last resort and just let Glinda go, forget this ever happened. Another change she had no say in.

"Let me go."

"Alright" Elphaba said, utterly exasperated. "Alright, I'll take you home."

If Glinda heard her, she gave no sign that she had, her continuous whining uninterrupted. "Let me go, let me go, let me go-" she chanted almost hysterically; even when Elphaba had loosened her grip, leaving Glinda free to break away from her embrace. Glinda's rage had disappeared, it gave way to the tears now. Her mind was completely blank except for the simmering concoction of panic and desperation; She let her head fall back, drop against Elphaba's shoulder, and was leaning into her soft embrace and pretending. Pretending she was someone else, she was her father, her mother, Fiyero – anyone but this evil green savage, who was in and out of her life, for seemingly no other reason but to torment her.

Cool wind swept through the trees, clutching at their thin clothes. Both of them shivered, or only one of them, it was hard to tell, but it resonated through their limbs like voltage.


End file.
